At Odds

Luca

"You guys should go out, shop for your homecoming outfits." Mom says taking off her shoes before going upstairs.

"Liz has this whole thing planned out, so I was actually going to go with her." Edith says.

"Yeah, I'll probably go with Scotty and Todd." I say switching through channels on the TV.

"Seriously? Now that you two actually live together, this is when you chose to stop hanging out?" She says while stopping midway up the stairs. I look away from the TV and my eyes meet Edith's. We don't say anything. I hear my mother sigh and make her way up the rest of the stairs.

She wasn't wrong. We haven't been hanging out as often anymore. And I hadn't noticed. I hadn't noticed until now. Until we went from one month till homecoming, to a week.

Homecoming.

"Have you been asked out?" I ask. Why did I ask? I just did, it just came out.

"Asked out?" She repeats. She doesn't understand. Why would she? She's Edith.

"To homecoming, I mean. Has someone asked you to go with them to homecoming?"

"Yes." She says bluntly and I feel my eyebrows raise. "But I'm going with Liz." I sigh and smile in defeat. I hope no one takes advantage of that. Take advantage of her. So I worry, other than the sex ed talk in middle school, she hasn't had any experience with guys, or girls. "You?"

"Um, remember the friend? The one I mentioned a few weeks ago when you first moved in? Her name is Emely."

"You're going with her?"

"That's the plan. I still have to ask her."

"Why not?"

"Nervous, I guess." I say and look down at my hands, I pick at my nails when I'm anxious. I pick at my nails a lot. But in a moment I find her hand in mine. I look up and meet her eyes. She hasn't mastered a smile yet, not a genuine one, but her eyes do so much more than what a smile could do.

"Dolls and screws." She says and I smile.

"Dolls and screws." I repeate.

"When can I meet her?" I break from away from my thoughts and look back over at Edith. I don't answer, so she repeats herself, "When can I meet...

Emely?."